Anchoring your room with a sofa

As the largest furniture item in the living room, your sofa makes an ideal anchor piece. Depending on the layout of your living room and the flow you would like to create, several common sofa types will work well and have different benefits.  

• Two sofas facing each other will create a space to facilitate conversation in your living room. Add a coffee table in the centre and an ottoman or occasional chair between so guests aren’t too far away.  
• Sofas with a chaise provide extra space to relax and create a casual elegance that works well for everyday living. Designs with a chaise that can be swapped from left to right are a good option for flexibility.   
• Creating a U-shaped setting, whether with one large sofa or two smaller sofas paired with occasional chairs. This style works well for open-plan spaces.   

The Plaza Sofa rest gently on the Marion Rug in Sandstone, creating balance and visual cohesion.

Anchoring your room with a rug 

A rug is the primary tool for grouping furniture together and creating distinct zones. A rug will also come with the added benefit of creating warmth and texture and bringing colour to your room if desired.   

The main style points to be mindful of when selecting a rug are size and colour. The size in particular will make or break the look of your room and help or hinder in creating a balanced anchor point.  

In terms of size, there are a few basic rules to help you select the right rug for your space.  

• When in doubt, bigger is always better.  
• If you are grouping furniture together with a rug, ensure at least two legs of each piece are on the rug – you can think of it like your furniture is coming together to join in on a conversation.  
• Your rug should extend beyond either side of your sofa by at least 15 centimetres, but shouldn’t be so large it meets the wall or window.   

In terms of colour cohesion, the simplest approach is to go for contrasting colours; if you have dark flooring, go for a lighter rug. 

The Fleur Lounge Chairs work to balance the look of the living space.

Anchoring your room with occasional chairs 

Part of the magic of occasional chairs and ottomans is their ability to add symmetry and balance to a room. There are endless styles and configurations, and a pair of occasional seating options are the perfect addition to any room.  

Occasional chairs provide extra seating and can help accentuate your living room anchor point and tie the room together. 

Why visual weight in interior design creates balance

The simple meaning of visual weight in interior design refers to how much your eye believes an item weighs. Visual weight and the actual weight of an object are not always interconnected. It all comes down to the eye and mind connection. 

This is important for your interior design because too many heavy feeling pieces will weigh the room down, and too many lightweight pieces make the room feel unestablished and without an anchor.   

Visually speaking, you want your eye to be able to travel through the room and easily land on the heavier anchor pieces. Distributing these heavier feeling pieces throughout the room will also help create balance instead of having them all centred in one part of the room.  

There are a few main indicators that inform visual weight:  

• Colour – darker colours feel heavier, and lighter colours will appear to weigh less.  
• Patterns – busier, denser patterns will make an item feel heavier.  
• Texture – textured items add more depth and weight.  
• Size – generally the larger the size the weightier an item looks, however, this can be counterbalanced with the shape and profile. For example, a sofa perched on high slender legs will streamline and slim the look of the sofa and lighten its feeling in the room. Whereas items closer to the ground will appear heavier.  
•  Shape – curves appear lighter than harsher angles like triangles or rectangles. 

The Reo II Collection has been ideally placed to anchor the room.

How will you anchor your space?

In a well-designed room, furniture items and accessories won’t overpower each other. Individual parts will come together to form a cohesive and balanced whole.  

Anchoring your space with architectural features, sofas, rugs, and occasional chairs can help you create living room layouts that feel visually appealing and are a joy to be in.  

At KING, we design our furniture to suit your changing lifestyle needs, and our modular designs help create the perfect living room anchor for your space today and in the future. 

If you’re ready to shop for your perfect anchor pieces, visit our sofa collection, occasional chair collection or rug collection.  

For more interior styling advice read how to create a versatile living space, learn to design a bedroom sanctuary that's functional all year round, or discover how to style with colour.